ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT

(Haplocerus montanus[16])

This is one of the very few mammals that are permanently white or whitish at all seasons, and although commonly termed a goat, it really belongs to the same group as the serows, which it closely resembles in the form and color of the horns. In winter the hair is very long, and pure white in color; along the back it is erect, and much elongated on the withers and haunches, so as to give to the animal the appearance of possessing a pair of humps. The summer coat is comparatively short, and has a yellowish tinge. Height at shoulder just short of 3 feet; weight from 180 to 300 pounds.

Distribution.—North America, throughout the Rocky Mountains, from about latitude 36° in California at least as far north as latitude 60°. By American naturalists the proper generic name of the animal is considered to be Oreamnus instead of Haplocerus.

Measurements of Horns

Length on Front CurveCircumferenceTip to TipLocalityOwner
—11½....British ColumbiaClive Phillipps-Wolley
—11....Kutenay, British ColumbiaJohn T. Fannin (measured by)
—10½5¾..MontanaWalter James
10¼5¼5½British ColumbiaR. Rankin
—10⅛6½..Similkameen River, British ColumbiaArthur Pearse
10⅛56⅛?E. N. Buxton
—♀10⅛4¾..British ColumbiaCapt. A. Egerton
105⅜6⅜British Columbia J. V. Colby
—9¾5..MontanaTheodore Roosevelt
9¾5½6¼N.W. TerritoriesS. Ratcliff
9¾5¼6N.W. TerritoriesH.R.H. le Duc d’Orléans
9⅝5¼6⅛N.W. TerritoriesSir Edmund G. Loder, Bart.
9½5½6¼AlaskaSir George Littledale
9½4½..North AmericaJ. D. Cobbold
♀9½4¼5½British ColumbiaP. B. Vander-Byl
9½5¼6⅜East Kutenay, British ColumbiaA. E. Butter
—9½5¼6½Bitter Root Mts., U.S.A.James J. Harrison
—♀9⅜4½5⅝British ColumbiaA. E. Leatham
—9⅜5⅜6¾British ColumbiaT. W. H. Clarke
9¼5½5¼British ColumbiaJ. Turner-Turner
9¼5½..North AmericaEarl of Lonsdale
9¼5½5¾British ColumbiaG. Lloyd Graeme
9⅛..6MontanaThomas Bate, British Museum
9⅛5¼5British ColumbiaSir Peter Walker, Bart.
94¾6British ColumbiaT. P. Kempson
—8⅞5½4⅛British ColumbiaCount E. Hoyos
8¼4⅔5¼British ColumbiaCount Schiebler